Crawling Out of Hell
by Opticz
Summary: Set directly after Season 1: Dillon and Monte are on a regular scavenging run in Savannah when they run into a girl by the name of Clementine.
1. Chapter 1

**Crawling Out of Hell**

**Chapter 1**

The cool November air tugged against Dillon Paxton's jacket as he scanned the streets of Savannah. The sun was beginning to set and Dillon sighed as he realized that he and his friend's weekly scavenges were beginning to become more and more futile. Dillon licked his lips and sat against the door that led to the twenty-second floor of the apartment complex he had just searched. He brought his torn, black knapsack around and onto his lap and unzipped the largest pouch which contained the small amount of supplies he managed to gather. Taking out the crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and dumping out the contents of his bag onto the roof, he observed what he gathered.

Dillon shook his head in disappointment for he was still missing several items on the list. He just hoped Monte was having better luck than he was.

A gunshot sounded.

Dillon's head jerked up, he quickly threw his knapsack over his shoulders and picked up his hatchet and snuck over to the edge of the roof. Dillon scanned the streets but could only pinpoint the gunshot coming from somewhere close to The Marsh House. He swallowed and tightened his grip on the hatchet. Dillon had heard a gunshot not too long ago coming somewhere near the suburbs. Dillon shrugged it off and didn't worry about it. All he cared about was getting these supplies before dark and making it back to the group alive… and without loss.

Dillon stood and looked at the second tower on his left and stood up knowing that if he wanted a better chance of finding the rest of the items on his list he would have to make the jump. The building was a mere ten feet away from the edge of the first and Dillon knew he had managed to make farther jumps than that but he still felt nervousness well up in his gut. He pulled out a large rock from his pack and threw it at the glass window across from him. The window shattered, he didn't have much time.

Taking a breath he took off running. Dillon never thought he would ever be doing something like parkour. Hell, he never thought he would be in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. In midair he extended his legs to reach the other side.

Now on the other side, Dillon picked up the rock and put it in a side pouch in his knapsack.

The hallway was dark and the air was thick, the only light coming from the wall sized window panes on the far side of the hallway. The windows revealed dust particles flying through the horrid smelling air. There were ten rooms, five on each side of the hallway. Dillon began to walk to the first door on the right, Room 306. He held his hatchet up and ready with his right hand and placed his left on the knob and twisted.

Holding his breath he opened the door.

No Walkers, good.

Dillon began to breathe again with shaky breaths of relief. The room was well lit by the broken windows in front of him. On his left was a row of cabinets, a black opened stove, and an open refrigerator. In front were the broken windows, an overturned sofa, and a table with chairs. To the right there were two doors. Dillon closed the door to the apartment and walked to the open stove and crouched down looking to see if there was anything inside.

Nothing, as usual.

He sighed and moved to the left of the stove and looked into the refrigerator.

Nothing again.

Dillon closed the refrigerator door and walked over to the overturned sofa where a picture of a family of four lay on the ground. He picked the photo up out of the broken frame and sighed wishing things were like they used to be. Dillon placed the photo on the ground and walked over to the first door. Keeping the usual routine he opened the door hatchet ready only to be faced with nothing.

It was a bathroom.

The toilet was on the right and to his left the shower door was shattered and covered with blood. Dillon

gulped. In front was a cabinet with a mounted sink and mirror. He immediately checked the cabinets and looted two rolls of toilet paper and a half-used tube of toothpaste. Seeing that there was nothing left he stood up and looked into the mirror.

Dillon was a man that was average height for his age of twenty-five and developing muscles from his numerous walker encounters and use of a hatchet so often. His skin was fair but somewhat scarred. His most easily visible scar was the one that was right next to his right eye that stretched down until where his eye stopped and began again going through his outer right lip and barely cut through the stubble that as growing on his face. It was still red and hadn't began to fade yet. His eyes were sharp, angular and green and were almost covered by his messy brown hair. His jaw was sharp and had a small cut on it that was beginning to heal.

Dillon turned around and ran a hand through his long hair. He smiled, Irene would be dying to cut it when he and Monte got back. Dillon approached the door satisfied that he was at least able to get a little more of the items on the list, hopefully John would be satisfied this time. He began to walk across the hall to Room 307 when he heard a loud crash and the sound of running. Dillon held his hatchet at the ready only to see Monte, his best friend rounding the corner.

"Shit man! We need to move, like now," Monte said breathlessly.

Dillon looked Monte over. His friend's dark skin was covered in cuts and bruises, hopefully no bites. His short, but curly hair had strings of cobwebs clinging to it and his dark brown eyes were filled with worry. Monte was much taller and more than Dillon due to his friend playing basketball any chance he got.

"What? What's the matter?" Dillon asked worriedly checking behind Monte's back to see if he could see the cause of Monte's worry.

Monte licked his full lips and said, "No time, we've got to move."

As Monte said this Dillon heard a series of sickening growls coming from the hallway in front of him as Walkers came through the doors and the branching hallways. They looked hungry, they always were.

Dillon looked around frantic for an escape route but could find nothing, looking to Monte he asked, "Shit man, what are we going to do? We can't just go through them!"

"Yeah man, I know," Monte paused and then his eyes brightened as he stared behind Dillon. "Behind you! We can cross from here into the building behind you!" Monte exclaimed raising his shotgun and putting several pellets into the glass window behind Dillon.

"Come on man, let's go!" Monte shouted running without hesitation or worry to jump the ten foot gap. Monte pulled himself up into the window and shouted for Dillon to jump.

Dillon looked behind him at the Walkers closing in on him. They were about ready to make a nice meal out of him but Dillon wasn't about to let that happen, so he turned and jumped. He made the mistake of jumping too early and fell against the building just barely managing to grab the window frame.

Pain shot through his left hand and forearm and Dillon yelped in pain, he had been punctured by glass. Immediately and instinctively his left hand let go of the window frame causing his right hand to loosen its grip on the white window frame. He felt worry and panic shoot through his body as he realized he was about to die. Before he could slip and fall to his death Monte grabbed his right forearm and pulled him through.

Dillon landed on his side, shaken but okay.

"You okay Dillon?" Monte asked worriedly looking down the hallway to find no trace of Walkers.

Dillon looked at his hand, it was a horizontal cut through his hand opened about one inch and was bleeding heavily.

"Peachy," Dillon remarked sarcastically.

He reached inside his pack with his right hand and pulled out a rag, he wrapped it tightly around his left hand and winced as the blood still seeped through it. Dillon stood up and grabbed his hatchet.

"Let's just keep moving," He said to Monte.

Monte pressed his lips together in a tight line before nodding, turning and beginning to walk to the fire escape on the other edge of the hallway. Dillon followed Monte to the fire escape and made it down to street level.

"Walkers must've followed that first gunshot," Dillon said looking in the general direction of where the Marsh House was.

Monte turned to look at Dillon as they continued to walk out of city limits to the countryside.

"I didn't hear a gunshot," Monte said with an eyebrow raised.

Dillon pressed his left hand against his worn out jeans before answering.

"A few minutes ago, before shit hit the fan in there," Dillon said gesturing with his head to the twin apartment buildings, "I heard a gunshot coming somewhere close to the Marsh House."

Monte nodded and turned around.

"Bandits?" Monte asked rounding the corner of an auto shop to face the road leading to the hills.

Dillon thought of the idea of bandits running amuck in Savannah but shot the thought down in his head. From his experience, bandits stuck to basic areas and small towns, at least in Georgia. Although the past day had been quite loud, he still doubted the possibility of bandits.

"Nah, bandits don't usually come around big cities too much anymore," Dillon said shaking his head.

Stepping onto the grasslands Monte shook his head, "Well what do you think it could've been?"

"I don't know Monte, and frankly I don't care, I just think we should keep moving and get back to the town," Dillon said feeling a dull pain from his hand.

"Fine," Monte said and kept walking.

They made their way up a hill on the path towards the truck that they had taken to get here.

Monte finally broke the silence, "Why did you think it was such a good idea to park this far away anyway?"

Dillon shook his head with a small smile noting his friend's annoyance of having to walk this far, "Well I don't know about you, but if I saw a working truck just sitting in the middle of the road I would take it."

"Hmph, we still shouldn't have parked this far," Monte said.

Dillon rolled his eyes and continued to follow Monte until a small voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Omid? Ch-" a small, shaky feminine voice started before immediately silencing herself.

Dillon whipped around holding his hatchet up but immediately relaxed his grip as he saw the sight in front of him. It was just a little girl, and she looked frightened. Monte, on the other hand, flew off the handle raising his gun and began yelling, "Who the fuck are you? Why the hell did you follow us?"

Monte was seething with anger but in truth, he was just trying to look out for Dillon and the people in the town, he was like this to strangers all the time.

"Dude, chill, she's just a little girl," Dillon said gently pushing Monte's shotgun down.

Monte shook his head and turned around.

Dillon got down on one knee and looked into the girl's hazel eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked lightly.

The girl pressed her lips together and didn't meet eye contact with Dillon until she spoke again, "Clementine," she said softly then added curiously, "What's yours?"

"Dillon," he said.

His face grew serious seeing how dirty she looked, blood all over her hoodie and a small smear on her blue and white hat.

"You're alone in all of this?" Dillon asked seeing that it would be hard for someone so young to survive through this infection for four months. But then he remembered she had spoken two names.

Clementine drug her foot across the tall grass biting her lip, "I- was with someone, but we were separated," she said, her voice trembling.

"And I take it you're looking for them?" Dillon asked.

Her eyes brightened.

"Yes, did you see anybody?" she asked, her voice was filled with hope, something people lost moths ago.

He frowned not wanting to disappoint her.

"No, but we can look," Dillon said.

Clementine smiled looking him in the eye.

Dillon could already tell this little girl had been through hell and back, the least he felt he could do was offer her some assistance.

"Hell no, it's almost dark! We don't even have flashlights," Monte said jumping in.

Dillon sighed, "Well, they shouldn't move to far from here if they're looking for you. If you want, we can take you to our town and get you a nice meal and let you get some sleep and tomorrow we can come looking for them," Dillon said.

Monte shook his head.

Clementine thought for a while then looked up at Dillon, "You won't mind?"

"No, of course I don't mind," Dillon said.

"What about everyone else man, think a little. Brining this girl with us is just going to give us another mouth to feed," Monte said annoyed.

Dillon tightened his jaw and glared at Monte.

"They took _us _in didn't they? And if they don't like it then they'll just have to get over it," Dillon said standing up.

Monte backed up a little and sighed.

"Alright then, it's your call, but John isn't going to like it," Monte replied, his voice softer than before.

"I don't care what he does or does not like, I'm not leaving anyone else out here to die because of you," Dillon said rather harshly.

Monte looked down and closed his eyes sadly remembering the week before, remembering how cruel he had been to someone that was just trying to survive.

"Alright… let's go, trucks just up ahead," Monte said sadly before turning around.

Dillon looked at his friend's back sympathetically not meaning to be so harsh, but he could never let himself leave someone for dead again. Turning around to look at Clementine he smiled.

"C'mon Clementine, let's go," he said leading her to the truck.

Clementine followed Dillon hoping things would go better this time.

**A/N**

**I hope everyone enjoys this first chapter, I hope for this fic to go well, I have high hopes for this one. Feel free to leave a review letting me know if you liked or disliked this. Anything that can help me improve this to allow you guys to enjoy it more. See you guys next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Crawling Out of Hell**

**Chapter 2**

The cabin of the truck was relatively silent the whole forty-five minute drive to the town with the only comments coming from Monte of how the truck was beginning to run out of gas and how they needed more. Dillon lifted the bloodied wrap the covered the large laceration on his hand and winced at how bad it looked. The skin had paled tremendously around the wound and only now was the cut clearly visible as the bleeding had stopped.

It looks worse than it feels, Dillon kept telling himself.

Dillon turned around to see Clementine slumped over, sleeping. Good, she probably needed it he thought.

Meanwhile, Monte tapped Dillon on the shoulder, "We're almost there," he said focusing on the dirt road.

Dillon looked forward and saw one to two story buildings lit up ahead of him, Dillon sighed. It was good to be back after a run like that. The two armed guards opened the ten foot high gates letting the truck pull in. There were four shabby, wooden buildings on the right side of wide dirt street. There was the Doctor's Office, the Armory, the Ration Distribution Center, and finally John's house. To the left were five buildings, each of them were two floors, the first floor being a living room/kitchen and the second floor each filled with rooms of beds.

Monte parked next to the center building on the left, which was where Dillon and Monte slept at. Dillon got out and walked over to the rear right door and opened it, Clementine was still sleeping. Carefully he picked her up and gently closed the door to the truck. In order to avoid unnecessary questions to wake the girl Dillon walked up the steps into the wooden hallway careful to avoid creaky spots on the wooden floor. Dillon opened the door to him and Monte's room and shut it with his back.

Dillon placed Clementine on his messy bed and put her pack on the chair that served as a bedside table for him. Dillon walked to the rusted school locker against the wall and opened it. He placed his knapsack inside and pulled out a small roll of gauze. Sitting on Monte's bed Dillon slowly peeled off the rag that covered his damaged hand. He wrapped the clean gauze over the laceration and closed his fist, he would have to go see Shaun to get stitches later on.

There was a soft knock at the door. Dillon looked up at the door as Monte came in looking as if he was about to say something when a medium sized dog cut him off and walked in.

The German Shepherd merrily pranced into the room, her tail wagging with excitement as she jumped onto the bed and pounced on Dillon licking his face. He chuckled lowly as to not wake Clementine and rubbed Iris's black, and tan head.

"Hey girl, how you doing?" he said rubbing behind Iris's oversized, floppy ears.

She huffed and puffed in response, obviously not pleased that he had been gone another day without being able to play tug-of-war with her. Dillon was worried though, why had Iris not reacted to Clementine?

"Damn it, Iris, we talked about this," Monte said with a half-smile.

Iris whipped her head around to look at Monte and snapped her jaw at him, all the dog couldn't do was talk. Iris could do anything a human could do, except of course operate things that required thumbs.

"I don't think she cares too much when people try to correct her," Dillon said smiling at the dog who had taken to lying on her side and chewing Dillon's shoe laces.

Monte leaned against the door frame with a small trace of a smile and nodded.

"Well she better start listening to her superiors or we might just have a problem," Monte said looking down at the dog, now with a full smile.

"Please, this dog? Look at her, she doesn't take shit from no one," Dillon said as Iris continued to make a meal out of his shoe laces.

Dillon chuckled, "In fact, she's the one who we should report to from now on. Just look at that, she already has her priorities straight, dinner comes first."

Monte leaned his head back with a low laugh careful not to wake Clementine, "Ah yes, first order of business, prepare shoe lace stew with a side of sautéed aglets. Perfect."

Dillon simply smiled, looked down and scratched Iris's white belly.

Monte walked in and shut the door with a serious face, opened his locker and grabbed a few more shotgun shells. He closed the locker turned around and leaned back against it. His glance fell to Clementine who had curled up in a ball and seemed to be sleeping soundly like she had been sleep deprived.

"How's she holding up?" Monte asked with his arms crossed.

Dillon put on a serious expression and shook his head, "To tell you the truth, I really don't know. God knows what the poor girl has been through."

Monte nodded and pressed his lips together in a tight line, "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to find her group. I heard her mention the name Omid and something else, something like Chris, or Christine. I don't know, we kind of cut her off back there," Dillon said with a frown.

Monte frowned as his brow creased with disappointment of how he almost shot a little girl.

"You know we really don't have much room for extra people right? Much less a group," Monte said looking down at Clementine then at the floor.

"We have plenty of room, seriously Monte there's like four extra rooms in this building," Dillon said shaking his head growing aggravated that his friend wasn't willing to help people like he was.

"You know what I mean, we don't really have a stockpile of food and supplies here. Not everyone is living comfortably around here," Monte said firmly.

Dillon scoffed, "What's two more people going to hurt huh? We'll just have to haul ass on scavenging runs."

Monte was beginning to grow angry, "That's all we do out there, Savannah's running dry Dillon, we are starting to have to dig for shit now. And every time we go back some asshole has managed to loot the place even more!"

His voice grew louder than it should have been.

Clementine stirred, the nine your old sat up and opened her hazel eyes. She took in her surrounding as the two men and the dog looked at her. Her sharp, but fearful eyes scanned the room for moments that felt like minutes. Finally she spoke.

"Where am I?" her voice was not as shaky when the group first met but Dillon and Monte could still detect a lingering sadness in her voice.

"Our town in the Georgia countryside. You fell asleep on the ride back, so I brought you up here, I figured you were tired and had gone through enough for the day," Dillon said gesturing to her blood stained hoodie and face.

Clementine blushed a little, she was somewhat happy that she could trust these people, Dillon at least.

"Thank you," she said as her eyes fell on Iris whose head was tilted to the side observing the newcomer.

"You guys have a dog?" Clementine asked innocently, her eyes now bright with interest.

Monte took a step towards Clementine and Iris, "Yeah, her name is Iris."

Monte loved Iris to death and made sure to spend some time playing with her every day.

"She's very pretty," Clementine said hesitantly reaching out her thin arm.

Dillon sat down on the bed next to Clementine, "Go ahead and pet her, she doesn't bite."

Clementine confidently reached out and stroked Iris's head. Iris took her right paw and placed it on Clementine's wrist, repeating the process with the other paw she pulled herself up to where she could lick Clementine's cheek. Clementine giggled and continued to pet Iris.

"See, she's pretty friendly. That's why it's hard to train her to be a guard dog," Monte said watching Iris enjoy the extra attention she was getting.

"Aw come on, she's pretty aggressive sometimes," Dillon said.

Monte scoffed, "Chasing down a few squirrels isn't really being aggressive."

"I don't know, seems pretty ambitious to me," Dillon said.

"Ambitious maybe, but not aggressive. Not this dog," Monte said smiling at Iris.

"Well, Iris and I should be going. I came by to tell you that John was looking for you," Monte said walking towards the door.

Dillon sighed, John probably wanted to chew him out for bringing Clementine back with him. Dillon looked up at Monte's tired brown eyes. Dillon bit his lip, "Alright, I'll go see him in a bit."

Monte simply nodded and left the room without another word.

"So, how're you holding up Clementine?" Dillon asked breaking the silence.

Clementine drug her foot across the wooden floor with a small shrug, "I've been better."

Locking eyes with the nine year old Dillon sighed, "We all have Clementine. We all have."

"Where do you think your group is at?" Dillon asked.

"I don't know, Lee said that they were still close to Savannah," Clementine said with a small shrug.

"Lee?" Dillon asked skeptically.

Clementine immediately frowned and looked to her right. Dillon, seeing he had hit a sore spot he immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry Clementine- I shouldn't have asked," Dillon said leaning back a bit.

Clementine looked back at him, her eyes were glossy now.

"Lee was my friend, he protected me all this time, he taught me how to protect myself. He even taught me how to shoot a gun. He's the reason I'm still alive," she said with a sad smile.

"And he's-" Dillon trailed off as he began to trace his finger over the white sheets.

Clementine bit her lip, "He's gone… he was bitten while trying to find me- I- I was so stupid… I-"

She couldn't continue.

Tears flooded her eyes as she began to break down again, she shuddered thinking of all that's he had lost in such a short time.

Dillon dropped to his knees embracing the little girl on impulse. His strong arms wrapped her in a tight hug.

"It's alright Clem, you don't have to say anything else. It's ok," he said trying to comfort her.

"It's all my fault," she cried.

Letting go of Clementine Dillon sat back against the bed with an expression of sympathy and confusion.

"Clementine, bad things happen- it couldn't have been your fault," Dillon said shaking his head.

Clementine was kneeling on the floor sniffing sadly, she wanted all of this to be over. To be with her parents, going to school, and to just be able to be a little girl again but she knew it could never be.

"I'm the reason he was bitten. This man, he told me he had my parents with him and I believed him. So I went to find him, to find my parents. Lee was bitten while trying to find me," Clementine paused closing her eyes. "He found me though, he saved me from the man that told me he had my parents. Lee cut his arm off thinking that it would save him, but… I guess it didn't. I- I had to shoot him, I had to shoot him so he wouldn't turn."

Dillon swallowed hard and pressed his lips together as the nine year old in front of him placed her head in her hands. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Clementine looked up with sadness, her eyes were gleaming with tears. All Clementine could do was nod.

"You hungry?" Dillon asked trying to change the subject.

Clementine frowned but nodded, she seemed to have moved on from the previous conversation. Dillon stood up and wiped his hands on his pants before helping Clementine up. The two walked to the door and out into the darkened hallway.

"You a fan of Spaghetti?" Dillon asked.

Clementine looked up with a smile remembering how sometimes she would get home from school to a nice hot plate of her mother's spaghetti.

"Yes," Clementine said rather happily.

Dillon grinned and looked forward as the two walked down the makeshift stairs. "Well I'm sure Hailey is still down in the kitchen and I don't think she would mind getting you some."

Clementine looked up with an eyebrow raised inquisitively. "You're not hungry?"

Dillon shook his head and rubbed his flat stomach. "Oh no, I ate before we left for Savannah today."

The little girl shrugged as they reached the bottom step into the large sitting area. It was relatively empty except for a large man who was sleeping on the couch with a blanket over him. Dillon and Clementine walked through the large arched doorway directly ahead of them into the brightly lit kitchen where a young women stood leaning over a pot.

"Hey Hailey," Dillon said catching the woman's attention.

Hailey Bennet turned around with a small smile. She was a small woman about 5'2 and couldn't weigh more than 115 pounds. She had long blonde hair and long eyelashes the shadowed her ocean blue eyes. Her straight white teeth bit down on her full, pink lips as she gave a questioning look to Dillon and Clementine.

"You've brought a guest?" Hailey asked looking at Clementine.

Clementine shrugged away from Hailey's stare by sidestepping behind Dillon's leg.

"Yeah, Monte and I found her out on the countryside all alone. I couldn't just leave her there," Dillon said looking Hailey in the eye, blue eyes matching dark green eyes.

Hailey chuckled for a moment and looked down at Clementine again before getting down on one knee.

"And what's your name sweetey?" Hailey asked with a soothing voice.

Clementine relaxed her grip on Dillon's blue jeans and stepped out into full view in front of Hailey.

"Clementine," the girl answered with her soft voice.

Hailey smiled, "That's a very pretty name, Clementine."

Clementine smiled brightly, "Thanks."

Hailey nodded and stood up and looked at Dillon with a questioning stare.

"So what do you need?" Hailey asked slightly tilting her head to the side.

"Clementine was getting hungry so I brought her down to see if you could hook her up with some of your world-famous spaghetti," Dillon said nudging Hailey.

"Oh don't exaggerate, a box of noodles and a jar of tomato sauce is nothing special. But of course I'll fix you some, sweetey," Hailey said looking at Clementine.

"Well when people are hungry they'll eat _anything_," Dillon said leaning against a supply crate that served as a counter.

Hailey raised her eyebrows in fake defensiveness. "So you're saying my spaghetti isn't good?"

"Hey, you said it. Not me," Dillon said with a smirk.

Hailey playfully swatted Dillon's arm with a dishtowel, "Well, I guess you're kind of right, but it beats your definition of an omelet."

"Hey it was edible," Dillon said defensively.

Hailey's eyes brightened with delight, "Edible? Maybe after I spent ten minutes scraping the thing off of the ceiling and picking the wood chips out of then maybe it was edible."

Clementine laughed.

"Oh so this is funny to you?" Dillon asked smiling with his eyebrows raised.

"Kinda," Clementine said nodding with a smile.

"Well I see how it is," Dillon said pushing himself off of the crate.

"Just remember, you single handedly ruined that omelet's family," Hailey said uncovering the steaming pot of spaghetti sauce.

Dillon threw his hands up, "That omelet didn't have a family."

"Tell that to your breakfast," Hailey said placing the steaming bowl of spaghetti on the wooden table.

Dillon pulled a chair for Clementine to sit as Hailey handed Clementine a small napkin and a fork.

"Thank you," Clementine said.

"No problem Clementine," Hailey said looking up at Dillon.

Hailey and Dillon locked eyes for a moment. Dillon could see a twinkle in those blue eyes of hers and he smiled suddenly feeling a small warmth wrap around his heart. Pulling himself out of his thoughts he looked down at his sneakers.

"Can you watch Clem for a bit? I have to go see John for a little while," Dillon asked.

Hailey frowned and looked out of the window before turning to glance at Clementine who was eating like she hadn't had a proper meal in a while.

"Yeah, I'll watch her," Hailey said, her voice almost sad before it brightened again. "We can talk for a while."

Clementine looked up with a smile.

"I'll be right back Clementine, and tomorrow we can go out and look for your group tomorrow, ok?" Dillon asked stepping towards the door and turning around to look at the nine year old.

"Ok, hurry please?" Clementine asked innocently.

"I will," Dillon said.

"Don't worry, I'll keep her company," Hailey said smiling at the little girl.

Dillon nodded before turning around and walking into the cool wind pulling the door closed behind him.

**A/N**

**And there went chapter two, I hope everyone enjoyed this one as I did writing it. Next chapter the hunt will begin for Omid and Christa. Feel free to leave a review letting me know what you liked/disliked and how I can better this story to fit your liking. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Crawling Out of Hell**

**Chapter 3**

**...**

Dillon opened the door to John's two story white painted wooden home and was greeted by the scent of candles. Irene noticed Dillon instantly and quickly walked towards him arms open wide, "Oh Dillon! It's so good to see you, Monte must've told you John wanted to see you?" Irene asked embracing the young man.

The woman was fairly large and in her mid-forties. Irene has pale, freckled skin to accompany her red hair and blue eyes. She wore a gravy stained apron hinting that she had just come from the kitchen, no doubt trying out a recipe from the gourmet cook book Dillon had brought her last month.

"Yeah, he told me. I'm guessing it's about the girl?" Dillon asked biting down on his lip as he looked past Irene into the serene living room. There were two brown couches and a matching leather armchair accompanied by a large red rug and wooden coffee table facing the fireplace. John had spent quite a long time renovating this old building and his hard work was beginning to pay off.

Irene put a hand on her hip and whipped sweat from her brow, "Yes, but I don't think he's mad. He just said he wanted to talk to you about heading into a different zone."

Dillon frowned, Monte and he had always stuck to Zone 8 of Savannah which covered The Marsh House, Stillwell Towers and ten blocks around each of those landmarks. Heading into a different zone would be difficult to adapt to as they had been in the same routine for two months and knew Zone 8 like the backs of their palms. "What zone?" Dillon asked with his eyebrows raised.

Irene shook her head and closed her eyes for a brief moment letting the cool air soak in, "I'm not sure, sweetie, but I think he mentioned the Crawford Zone," Irene said opening her pale blue eyes again.

Dillon's green widened at the thought of Crawford, he had heard stories at the bonfire about that place being a total hell hole. He pressed his lips together and looked down at his green and grey jacket as he thought of the recent rumors of Crawford being overrun by walkers. "Zone 11? He must've gone off his nut. No one searches that area, and for good reason."

Irene nodded and put as hand on her shoulder knowingly, she too had heard rumors of Crawford's brutality. "Don't worry Dillon, I'm sure John has his reasons, he always does."

That was a statement Dillon could agree on, he sighed and thought that if it was what John had planned for him then it was probably a good thing.

"Alright then, I'll go talk to him," Dillon said with a shrug walking to pass Irene before she put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"What's her name?" Irene asked.

It took a brief moment for Dillon to understand what Irene was asking for but he quickly went back to his usual train of thought as he answered softly, "Clementine… her name is Clementine." Dillon said as he brushed past Irene hearing her mumble, "What a pretty name."

Dillon proceeded to walk up the wooden stairs to the second floor, at the top Dillon took a right which led to John's study. Dillon knocked on the brown door and leaned against the wooden frame as he fingered his jacket strings.

"Come in," Dillon heard.

Pushing open the door Dillon was met by a small room decorated with two bookshelves on the left and right walls, Dillon faced a desk and a large window directly in front of him. Sitting on the chair in front of a fully charged laptop was John Hudson, the leader of this small settlement.

John was in his early fifties but was stronger and faster than some of the most athletic young men in this group. He had wise, brown eyes that were hidden behind black reading glasses which came in handy when John tried to contact other countries or other states that may not have been hit by the infection. Dillon admired the man's persistence to find help for the group and the whole content of North America, but he sometimes felt that it was a worthless effort and a waste of time and generator power.

"Found anything?" Dillon asked sitting down in one of the two leather chairs.

John shook his head with a sigh and ran his fingers through his greying brown hair, "No, have you?"

Dillon shook his head remembering how minutes before he heard the gunshot in Savannah he had been checking for some sort of Wi-Fi signal with his tablet, but of course nothing came up. "I wanted to talk to you Dillon, we need to get you and Monte into Zone 11. We need more supplies and I think Zone 11 should have enough to last us through the winter."

Dillon lowered his head with an inaudible sigh of dismay, "When?" Dillon simply asked.

John folded his hands over his black laptop, "Tomorrow."

Dillon shook his head, "No offense sir, but I told the girl that I'd help her look for her group tomorrow. Can we put this off until Thursday?"

John sighed but nodded slightly, "Fine, I'm flexible. But no later, understood?"

Dillon nodded, "And about the girl, who is she?" John asked, wondering about the new member of the large group.

"Her name is Clementine, she just lost her parents and someone close to her. I'm going to take care of her until we find her group," Dillon said looking into John's brown eyes.

John nodded leaning back in his computer chair, "How many are in her group?"

"I'm guessing only two people, I didn't speak of them too much. We'll talk more on the way to Savannah, forty-five minutes and I'll know exactly who I'm looking for," Dillon said with a small grin.

John nodded, "And where will she sleep, the other rooms aren't prepared yet."

"She can have my bed, I've grown accustomed to the floor by now," Dillon said smiling while thinking of the first two weeks Monte and he had to sleep on the ground after the outbreak.

"Alright, now I want to talk a little bit more about your scavenging run on Thursday," John said leaning back in his chair while he opened his drawer and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

John unfolded the paper and spread it over the laptop, he pulled a black marker out of the drawer and circled the hardware store near Crawford. "I want you to be there on Thursday as soon as noon rolls around. Take a duffel bag with you and store whatever repair tools you can find in them, what we need most is nails and hammers. If you can find some saws and wrenches that would be great. Also try to get into the auto store across the street and get a twelve volt car battery, Monte tells me the truck has been acting up."

"I got it, John. Don't worry, Clementine and I will go out and try to find her group tomorrow. If we can't find them, I'll pick it up again with her on Friday," Dillon said nodding and taking the map.

"Alright, be careful out there tomorrow. Don't waste your time," John said with a grim expression.

Dillon, who had stood up and was right next to the door already, nodded slowly and put the map into his front jacket pocket before turning and exiting the room.

…

Dillon walked back into the third apartment's kitchen to see it empty and dim, he could here laughter coming from the living room. Dillon leaned on the arched doorway to see a game of checkers going on in the center of the room. The group that lived in this building had pulled a table into the center of the room and arranged two sofas around either side of it and began playing a game of checkers. The two competitors were Hailey and Monte. Surrounding them were six men and women.

Dexter, Macey, and Clementine were sitting on Hailey's side of the board while Amy, Jackson, and Kyle sat on Monte's side. Currently Monte looked as though he was ready to throw in the towel and could hear him muttering things under his breath as he was forced to lose another piece from his board.

Dillon walked to Hailey's sofa and rested his arms on the top of it and looked down at Clementine who was staring intently at the board wondering how the game worked. Dillon tapped the tip of her white and blue hat, Clementine turned her head around with a smile before Hailey gave her a light elbow tap to the ribs. "Watch this, Clem," Hailey said with a small giggle. Dillon couldn't help but smile at the look of sheer shock on Monte's face as he lost a whopping four pieces to one of Hailey's three kings.

Monte leaned over and placed his elbows on his legs and covered his mouth with both hands, "Hailey, I hate you so much right now," Monte murmured.

Dexter and Macey began laughing at Monte while Jackson simply pat the man on the shoulder, "Don't worry bro," Jackson began to laugh, "At least you're having a streak."

Monte glared at him, "I've lost four freaking times already Jackson!"

Monte's outburst caused Jackson to laugh even harder, "B-But it's a streak!"

Iris, who had been sleeping by the fireplace during the entirety of the four games, walked over to Dillon, licked his hand and proceeded to jump onto Clementine's lap.

"Hey Iris!" Clementine said giggling as she pet the dog who had fallen asleep once again.

"Dillon, can you PLEASE take over. She might actually let you win again," Monte begged standing up.

Dillon threw his hands up, "Sorry bro, it's your game, it would be wrong of me to mess up your streak."

Monte sighed and sat down again mumbling things under his breath.

Clementine looked up at Dillon once more as the game commenced again, "Dillon, I'm getting kind of tired."

"I imagined you would be, I'll take you up to the room," Dillon said as Clementine got up.

Iris jumped off of Clementine's lap and gave her a sideways look as if to ask why she would disturb her nap.

"Hey, Clementine and I are gonna' hit the sack, we're getting tired of seeing this streak go on," Dillon said as he led Clementine ahead of him.

Monte simply rolled his eyes and tried to conserve his final three pieces as everyone else said their goodnights to the two.

Once inside the room, Dillon took a pillow out of the locker and threw it beside his bed, "You can have the bed Clem," Dillon said lying down on the floor and closed his eyes.

He could hear small footsteps and then the whine of the bed springs. Several minutes passed before Clementine spoke.

"Do you think we'll find them?" Clementine asked looking over the edge of the bed.

Dillon opened his dark green eyes and looked into Clementine's tired, hazel ones before nodding, "Yeah, I think we will. Chances are they set up camp around the outskirts of Savannah so they shouldn't be too hard to find. Besides, I won't stop looking until we find them, I owe you that much."

Clementine gave Dillon a confused expression, "You don't owe me anything," she said with a frown.

Dillon gave off a light chuckle and closed his eyes, "but you've been through a lot, you deserve this much. And I'll do whatever I can to help you get them back," Dillon said opening his eyes to find the nine year old smiling down a him with the hint of an inquisitive look in her now bright eyes.

"You mean it?" she asked.

It was Dillon's turn to look at the girl oddly, "Of course I mean it, I'll do whatever it takes," Dillon said shifting to his side.

He waited a few more moments, "I promise, I'll protect you until we find them."

A solid minute passed before Clementine spoke up, her voice groggy and soft, "Can you keep doing that?"

"What?"

"Protecting me?" Clementine asked, her eyes were somewhat grief stricken. She must have been thinking of Lee, Dillon thought.

He grinned, "Until the day I die."

Clementine smiled somewhat content and then drifted off to sleep.

…

Dillon sat at the dinner table in the kitchen and fingered his recently stitched palm, Shaun had come over an hour ago and stitched the wound for him. Monte told Shaun last night about the injury so Shaun had come to patch it up this morning and left immediately afterwards because he had other people to take care of.

Jackson, Amy, Clementine, and Hailey sat around him at the table eating their breakfast while Dillon stared at his small portion of eggs.

"Something on your mind, man?" Jackson asked scratching his curly brown hair.

Dillon shook his head forking his eggs, in truth he was thinking about the Crawford run tomorrow. He knew he would be fine and get back here just fine but something kept eating at him making him feel like he might not come back. He stood up abruptly and carried his plate to the sink pressing his lips together and passed Clementine and pat her elbow.

"I'll be outside, come when you're ready," He said smiling at her.

She nodded and began hungrily eating her eggs again as Dillon walked outside. He walked to the picket fence next to the entrance gate and leaned on it. He ran his fingers through his long hair thinking about finding Omid and Christa today, that's what Clementine said their names were. Omid and Christa.

Omid, short man, probably in his thirties wearing blue jeans and a dark grey hoodie. Short hair and brown eyes with fair skin. Clementine's explanation for Christa was short because she said she didn't really spend as much time with her as she did Omid. Christa was a tall women most likely in her thirties as well and usually kept her curly brown hair in a bun. She sported blue jeans and a purple and white jacket. She had dark brown eyes and dark skin.

Dillon could hear footsteps behind him and turned to see that it was Monte carrying the duffel bag.

"You be careful out there man," he said leaning a bit closer, "And keep that little girl safe."

"Oh I will," Dillon said taking the weighty duffel bag.

"What's in this thing?" Dillon asked getting on one knee and unzipping the navy blue bag.

"My shotgun, just in case," Monte said as Iris trotted along tail wagging and eyes bright.

Dillon pulled the shotgun out inspecting the black metal before handing it back to Monte along with the half empty case of extra shells, "Here, I won't need it. I have all that I need right here." Dillon said gesturing to the hatchet that hung by a short chain on his belt.

Monte shook his head, "These people may not be-" Dillon cut him off, "They're friendlies, Monte. Don't worry, I don't think Clementine would lie."

Monte sighed impatiently, "What if you run into walkers?"

"Not likely, they didn't stray too far into the countryside. I mean, we've never been hit by walkers or even bandits," Dillon said.

"Yeah, 'cause we're forty-five minutes away from Savannah city limits. You'll be right next to it. Just take the gun man," Monte said extending the shotgun towards Dillon.

Dillon sighed knowing his friend meant well but Dillon felt that he simply didn't need the extra weaponry, but if he didn't take the gun Monte would worry. Unwillingly Dillon took back the gun pack of shells and slipped it back into the duffel bag as Clementine made her way to the two.

She pet Iris on the head and looked up at Dillon with a half-smile, "I'm ready."

Dillon nodded looking the little girl over. She must have changed into a blue hoodie and washed herself up this morning. She also wore her pink backpack and seemed to be holding a gun.

"You have a gun? Do you even know how to shoot it?" Dillon asked incredulously.

"Of course, Lee taught me," the girl said proudly.

"Lee?" Monte asked.

Dillon pat his friend on the shoulder, "I'll tell you later."

Monte nodded, "Well, I guess I'll see you and our new guests later." He said looking at Clementine with a smile.

"Yep," Clementine said happy she would be bringing back some familiar faces.

"Alright, well you two be careful. Take care of Dillon for me," Monte said with a small chuckle.

Clementine giggled at Dillon's semi-annoyed reaction, "I will."

Monte nodded and headed off with Iris trailing right behind him.

"Let's head out shall we?" Dillon said gesturing to the black SUV parked by the exit gates.

Clementine nodded eagerly.

…

The sun beat down on the two as they traversed the Savannah countryside, currently they had been searching for one hour and were about to call it quits in that area until they saw two black figures in the distance. Dillon crouched down and gently pulled Clementine down next to him. "Stay close to me ok, this may not be them," Dillon said.

"I think it may be," Clementine said hopefully looking into the distance.

The two figures seemed to have noticed them and slipped away into the tree line. "Come on," Dillon said walking down the sloped hill hand hovering over his hatchet that was clipped to his belt.

Clementine and Dillon made their way to the tree line and entered cautiously. The sun shone through the trees and illuminated a puzzle shaped pattern on the leaves and grass before the two survivors. A snap of a branch was heard and within a second Dillon had pulled out his hatchet in a defensive stand and moved Clementine behind him protectively.

"Nothing," he murmured and continued walking forwards.

"Do you think they got scared and ran?" Clementine asked with a huff.

Dillon shook his head, "No one runs, especially if they think they can overcome what's ahead of them. So knowing what you've told me about your old group," Dillon started recalling Clementine's praising stories of her former group, "they should still be here. If it's them, if it's bandits then they may have ran for reinforcements."

"What if those two were bandits?" Clementine asked looking up at the older man worriedly.

"Well," Dillon started simply with a smile, "They're going to have a bad day."

Clementine smiled back and looked at her shoes as she walked.

Another branch cracked suddenly as Dillon placed his hand on his hatchet a cold barrel of a gun was placed on his neck. "Stop right there," A masculine voice sounded.

Dillon balled his fists sensing the danger to himself and to Clementine immediately. Dillon's heart pounded furiously he slowly wrapped his fingers around his hatchet.

"Do you think that's Cle-" a feminine voice began as Dillon turned spun around and swung hard with his hatchet at the man's hand who held the gun.

"Dillon! No!" Clementine cried, but it was too late.

**A/N:**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite, followed, or just read this story. I'm really enjoying writing this story and I hope you all are enjoying reading it. I left this chapter on a sort of cliffhanger, you'll just have to wait until next week to see what happens next! And as always, see you guys in the next chapter!**


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